Water security for $1.30 a week

The Queensland Government has announced the forecast price of guaranteed water security for South East Queenslanders – around $1.30 a week extra in bulk water costs.

Cabinet today considered Queensland Water Commission’s recommendations on bulk water prices for South East Queensland.

Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Paul Lucas and Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the figures showed the government had worked hard to keep water prices down.

“Climate change means we don’t know what the future will bring but the $9 billion SEQ water grid is the best insurance policy money can buy. It means that South East Queenslanders will never again have to worry about running out of water,” said Deputy Premier Paul Lucas.

The Treasurer said that the government would carefully monitor water charges in the future.

“We worked to ensure the increase in the price of bulk price of water was kept to roughly $17 dollars a quarter in the average Brisbane household and we will be watching the behaviour of councils carefully to ensure prices are fair,’’ he said.

“Some councils have said they intend to include the bulk water prices separately on the bills and that is something we would strongly support.

“The Queensland Competition Authority will act as a watchdog on water charges and we will publish water charges annually,” he added.

Mr Fraser said the assumptions are based on established models of forecast interest rates and water consumption.

He said the proposed new water charges system meant that households across South East Queensland would face approximately the same dollar increases.

“We understand that with rising interest rates and inflation many households are facing a financial squeeze,” he added..

“That’s why we will not seek a commercial rate of return on our water infrastructure and that’s more than $1.5 billion over the next 10 years that consumers will not have to pay,” he said.

“Councils retain ownership of local distribution and retailing functions and they still control the final household bill,” he added.

• The new figures mean that under the new bulk water prices a post drought Brisbane household using 250 KL of water a year should see their weekly bill increase by less than the price of a can of soft drink.

• The $1.30 weekly increase - or $17 a quarter – will pay for the $9 billion SEQ water grid and provide water security for South East Queensland.

• The average increase in the bulk water charges will be around $275 per megalitre which is less than 30 cents per kilolitre when passed through to residents.

• The drought means that a person in an average Brisbane household is using less than 140 litres a day. Their annual water bill should increase from $304 to $342 in the first year - an increase on the quarterly bill of less than $10.

• The state government assumed storage, treatment and transport responsibilities for providing bulk water to councils in South East Queensland last year.

• After taking into account inflation, all households in SEQ - except for those in the Sunshine Coast and Redland Council areas - that use the same amount of water should have the same increase in their annual water bill from July 1 due to bulk water charges.

• Sunshine Coast and Redland Council face lower increases in recognition of those council’s investment in existing water infrastructure projects.

• The increase for these two councils would mirror inflation in the next financial year and they would receive a discount of 50% in the following year.

• National benchmark cost comparisons show that forecast Brisbane prices are 39 percent lower than proposed Sydney prices and four percent lower than future Melbourne prices.

• Under the 10 year water price path, councils will reach the final price point at different times. After that point, rises will only be subject to CPI increases. The years in which the relevant councils reach the final destination price point are: Lockyer 2011-12; Somerset 2014-15; Scenic Rim 2015-16; Logan 2015-16; Gold Coast 2016-17; Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Redlands all in 2017-18.

Media inquiries: Robert Hoge 0419 757 868